


Coffee always tastes best with you

by W33hawken



Series: Persona Stories [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Explicit Language, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-16 17:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18526201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/W33hawken/pseuds/W33hawken
Summary: Akira Kurusu is known as a Phantom Thief to society, a magical and invincible stoic figure of justice that helps out those in need.But at home, in his quaint little cafe, he's a suave but dorky lover with a big heart to his dearest companions, all of whom he's touched the lives of in some way.Haru Okumura is the most recent, and may or may not be the last.





	1. Business Cards

Lone she stood, gazing out from her safe haven. She was used to it by now, how could she not be, alone all this time with no company.  
  
But it was that freedom, that quiet time in solitude, that she treasured far more than any amount of riches that was offered to her by previous suitors.  
  
Her father was overbearing, only speaking to her for minimalistic purposes, usually involving either his image or his pride. Both linked to his wealth, and both linked to his greed. He disregarded her plea, her insistence to let her choose her own path in life. That's all she wanted, really. Freedom of choice. That was a basic human right, was it not?  
  
Apparently not.  
  
The man she was forced to marry for monetary gain and image, was a snake. A snake in human skin, slithering about, feeding off whatever it could. And it had sunk it's teeth into her too, and her father wouldn't pull it out.  
  
It was all frustrating, infuriating, a nuisance, hell, every synonym under the sun for annoying and rage inducing.  
  
But above all else, it was tiring. So very, very tiring.  
  
So here she was, tending to a garden. The garden wasn't tiring. It wasn't annoying. It wasn't going to force her to do something she didn't want to do, love a man she didn't want to love. It just sat there, looked pretty, and gave her ripe vegetables. And in return, she nutured it, pouring the boundless love she had been storing up all this time.  
  
Haru smiled at her handywork. The flowers were always there, a safety net of sorts. Flowers never forced her to do anything. She appreciated that.  
  
There was a knock at the door, causing her to freeze in place. As far as she knew, no one came up here. Cautiously, she took a couple of the necessary steps needed to reach it, and stopped right in front.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
She called out to whoever it could be. A moment passed, before there was a reply.  
  
"Hello. May I come in?"  
  
The voice was no doubt male. A simple question, with two simple answers; yes or no.  
  
If she choose the former, there were endless possible outcomes. And the latter, only two. Haru longed for company, however, and she didn't see the harm in letting someone in. Shujin had fine security, if nothing else.  
  
"Yes, you may."  
  
Silence ensued. She wondered if he had left her despite asking for permission. That's when she heard him again, much closer this time.  
  
"Greetings."  
  
She gave a tiny yelp, mostly from surprise, turning around. The male voice now had a face to go along with it.  
  
He had a long, black trenchcoat, pointed tips trailing behind him, leading down to his dark boots. He donned a white mask, with accented with black around the eye holes. Crimson gloves were holding up his chin, as he sat on a chair backwards.  
  
"Apologies if I startled you, didn't mean it. I figured coming in the silent way was better, seeing how secluded this area is."  
  
He waved a hand towards the area, a slight smile on his lips.  
  
"...Pardon me, but how did you get in here, exactly?"  
  
She blinked, and he was gone again, this time behind her as he spoke.  
  
"A technique I picked up. Very useful, you can imagine. But if I had to label it, I'd say it's kinda like magic. Explaining it would take a while, and I'm a busy guy."  
  
Haru turned around, slower this time. Part of her was worried, seeing something so unnatrual transpire right in front of her. But she felt strangely at peace, as if speaking to an old friend.  
  
Ironic, considered she never knew that feeling in the first place. But she assumed this was it.  
  
"I... see. Um, what's your name? If you don't mind me asking."  
  
His eyes stared directly into her own, meeting her gaze.  
  
"I've been called a lot of things, but the one that stuck the most was Joker. So, If you want, use that."  
  
"Joker?"  
  
"That's right. Or, more accurately, the Phantom Thief."  
  
She's heard of him before, now that he said it aloud. He's infamous for "stealing hearts" of criminals, making them confess seemingly of their own volition. But there were rumors that you'd only see him if you were truly corrupt, and if that were true, she feared she might've done wrong by someone unknowingly.  
  
He seemed to sense this, and gave another wave of his hand.  
  
"Don't fret, I'm just here to let you know it's gonna be alright."  
  
"Alright in what way?"  
  
"Your father isn't the nicest man, I'm sure you noticed."  
  
She looked down, a mixture of anger and disappointment in her expression. She loved her father, of course, but he never gave her the light of day.  
  
"And, considering my job, I've decided to put him on my waiting list."  
  
She looked up to see him scratch the back of his head, a sheepish grin playing on his lips.  
  
"That is, if you'd allow me to. Normally I just do things because I wish to carry out the justice I feel needs to be done. But, this is the first time I've had a target who has immediate close family. Most of the time they've driven away anyone close to them, or they don't have anyone who's heard of me. And there's a certain threshold I can't really cross, you know? Older people can't really handle seeing me, religious one's especially, they go nuts."  
  
A sigh escaped him, but his eye contact remained.  
  
"So, what do you say?"  
  
To reform her father, like the rumors say. She had seen plenty of examples, and he did just essentially teleport right in front of her, so it wasn't a matter of belief.  
  
Once again, two simple answers. And one again, she choose the former.  
  
"You're not going to hurt him, are you?"  
  
A shake of his head.  
  
"Wouldn't dream of it, you have my word."  
  
"Then, yes, please do."  
  
He clasped his hands together, as if striking a deal with himself.  
  
"Great. You're helping out a lot of people, trust me."  
  
"I am?"  
  
"Yeah. I only go after someone if they have a truly corrupt sense of self. The stuff I've seen is, for a lack of a better word, disgusting. So whatever he's doing is real bad. I don't know what it is just yet, but I'll find out soon."  
  
He began to walk off towards the edge, looking at the gray sky above.  
  
"Tokyo's such a wonderful city, bursting from the seams with life and personality. But man, are there some scumbags. I guess that's why I was born. The hearts of the wronged have cried in agony for an escape, a savior, and here I am to answer that call."  
  
He turned his head a bit, looking at her from his peripherals.  
  
"It takes guts to speak up about people who's harmed you in some way. A lot of people can't do it. But they don't have to be afraid anymore."  
  
He looked like he was about to leave, so Haru called out to him.  
  
"Excuse me!"  
  
He fully turned around this time,  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Am I ever going to see you again?"  
  
A grin, one brimming with confidence. Joker procured a card from his jacket, and it vanished.  
  
She felt something in her hand, and there it was.  
  
Upon inspection, it looked to be a business card. One for a cafe called Leblanc.  
  
"If you want to find me, that's where to go. But, keep it a secret. I only have a select few associates who know about it."  
  
She put it away in her pocket, and nodded.  
  
"Hope you like coffee! Oh, and my partners. They're lovely people, I promise. See ya!"  
  
He took a few steps backwards, and fell off the roof. Naturally, a person's first instinct is to rush forward, and when she did look over the edge, he was gone.  
  
An enigma, he was. That talk about being "born", was he being literal or not? Questions came to mind, but she wouldn't get an answer standing around.  
  
Afterschool, she decided she'd take a trip.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, I wrote a fic called "Coffee & Gloves" and posted it.
> 
> I wasn't proud, as people usually are with their first few works, so I tossed it in the trash.
> 
> Since then, I have 12 of them (all of them are Danganronpa mind you, but still), So I feel a return to this is in order. I love persona a bunch, so why not?


	2. Update

Howdy fellas! 

 

Due to the existence of Persona 5 R and it's brand new characters, I feel like continuing this would be kinda pointless.

 

BUT

 

I will 100% re-write this when the game is fully released, and when we fully get to know our lovely new phantom thief Kasumi! I don't wanna leave her out, have you seen her? She's adorable!

 

I know this is kinda pointless in and of itself, I could've just not have said anything and let this fade into obscurity, but I don't like keeping peeps in the dark. 

But before I go, here's a tiny bit of what I wrote for ch.2 (it's not finished, as you can tell) 

\------------------

 

The door gave a soft jingle of it's bell's when she opened it up. The cafe, besides some elderly and the man behind the counter, wasn't too loud. There were faint voices coming from a place she couldn't see, presumably from an upstairs room.  
  
"Welcome to Leblanc. My name is Sojiro Sakura. I'm suprised you found this place, it's a little out of the way, as you can see. What brings you here?"  
  
His smile was warm and inviting, despite his gruff exterior. Like a father's, she imagines. She recalls the instructions on the card:  
  
_Lean in close, and ask where you could get some fatty tuna._  
  
She felt silly doing this, but instructions were instructions. With a light flush from embarassment, she did what it said.  
  
"Um... Where can I get some fatty tuna?"  
  
The man's face turned gave way to an exasperated expression, but he still had a smile.  
  
"Ugh, that kid needs a better password. To the left, upstairs."  
  
Heading in that direction, she took a creaky step, then another, and another, until she reached the top.  
  
On a bed, sat two blonde highschoolers she recognized:  
  
Ann Takamaki, and Ryuji Sakamoto. In between them was the transfer student, Akira Kurusu. But there was no sign of Joker anywhere.  
  
"O-oh! Sorry, am I interrupting you? I'll leave right away!"  
  
She turned around, and there Akira was, slinging an arm around her shoulder.  
  
"Hey! Glad you could make it. Sorry, I'm off duty right now, so I'm not wearing my uniform."  
  
Ann and Ryuji gave a wave, friendly smiles all around.  
  
"Hey senpai! How's it goin?"  
  
That's right, they were a year below her. She felt strange being the oldest in the room in that moment, but no one else seemed to mind, so she guessed it didn't really matter.  
  
"Ah, hello! So, Joker-"  
  
"Call me Akira, Jokers like a stage name, you feel me?"  
  
"Oh, okay. So, Akira..."  
  
Wait, wasn't that his first name? Were they on a first name basis already? She began to retract her greeting, but he shook his head.  
  
"Hey, it's fine. You can call me Kurusu too, if Akira's too personal."  
  
"N-no, it's... fine?"  
  
Sensing her confusion, Ann couldn't help but giggle.  
  
"Don't worry Senpai, I was a little confused at first too. You don't meet many people with 3 names to go by after all."

\------

Yeah it ain't much, I know, but it be like that. See ya in November!


End file.
